


Speak Up

by Writing_will_be_my_death



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human/Troll Society (Homestuck), Alternate Universe - No Sburb/Sgrub Sessions, Cancer, Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Cute, Dave gets flustered really easily, Dick Touching, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Hospital Visit, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, but he’s a villain so does it really count as major character death?, cross-quadrant relationship, don’t worry it’s just Bro that gets Cancer, he does die from it, non-sexual dick touching, someone breaks both their arms, theyre both film students
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-05-02 21:44:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14554176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writing_will_be_my_death/pseuds/Writing_will_be_my_death
Summary: At first, you were glad Dave Strider never spoke to you.But this was getting a little absurd.





	Speak Up

**Author's Note:**

> When you have writers block, just write a 9k oneshot!!
> 
> Wait what?

At first, you were glad Dave Strider never spoke to you. He had a tendency to… be a complete fucking idiot, to say the least. Snarky comments, a never changing face, and those fucking shades he never took off. Even the teachers let him keep them on.

You hated him so much, even a kismesissitude sounded disgusting. Not that you do quadrants, but the point still stands.

For the first three years of highschool, you were able to avoid him, despite typically having the same classes as him. Grade 12 decided to be a bulge head, however.

For your filmography class, you were supposed to spend the entire semester making a short film. In pairs. That the teacher decided.

Having no friends, you expected to be pissed with your partner. Understatement of the fucking century. Of course, you got paired with Dave fucking Strider.

And that’s how you found out he really didn’t want to talk to you.

It was hard, having a partner who refused to talk to you. He didn’t even do the mildly expressive hand gestures that gave some idea to what he was thinking about. 

Two weeks after the project had been assigned, you gave him your trollian tag. He texted you that weekend. Turns out he used pesterchum.

turntechGodhead [ TG ] began pestering carcinoGeneticist [ CG ]

TG: yo  
CG: THANK FUCKING GOD WHO I DON’T BELIEVE IN.  
CG: YOU FINALLY SPOKE TO ME.  
CG: ALBEIT IN TEXT, BUT AT LEAST NOW I'M NOT GUESSING WHAT SHIT YOU’RE THINKING.   
CG: IT IS THE MOST INFURIATING THING TO SEE YOU GO FROM THE MOST TALKATIVE BARK BEAST IN THE ENTIRE BULGE SUCKING GALAXY, TO A DOUCHE CANOE WHO CAN’T EVEN OPEN HIS FUCKING SHOUT TRAP.  
CG: I WAS SERIOUSLY STARTING TO THINK WE’D NEVER PROPERLY COMMUNICATE.  
CG: SO WHAT THE FUCK ARE WE GOING TO MAKE A MOVIE ABOUT.  
TG:  
CG:   
TG:  
TG: idk  
TG:  
CG:  
TG:  
CG: FUCK YOU.  
CG: I AM *TRYING* TO BE AN INCLUSIVE GROUP MEMBER HERE, GIVING YOU FREE REIGN ON WHAT OUR MOVIE IS ABOUT.  
CG: SO LONG AS IT’S SCHOOL APPROPRIATE, I AM FINE WITH IT. I’D RATHER NOT GET FAILED FOR FILMING A PORNO.  
TG:  
CG: WELL???????  
TG:

turntechGodhead [ TG ] ceased pestering carcinoGeneticist [ CG ]

And that was that.

Even through text, he didn’t want to talk to you. It was really frustrating. You’d have to up your game. Maybe ask one of his friends what’s up? Or you could sit with him during lunch. It’s not like you have anywhere to be.

~

On Monday, you find his lunch table. Surprisingly, he’s only sitting with three other humans. John Egbert, Rose Lalonde, and Jade Harley. You notice Dave is talking freely to them, maybe he’ll be caught in a trance or whatever and continue talking while you’re there.

You sit down on free seat. John spares you a glance, Rose smirks at you, and Jade scoffs at you. You aren’t sure what you did to Jade, but she’s probably not letting you live it down.

John asks Dave a question. Something to do with the conversation that was happening before you got there. You don’t know.

Dave doesn’t answer.

“Dave, come on,” Jade beckons, “cats or dogs?”

Dave still doesn’t answer. You think he’s staring at you. You give him your best glare.

“Dave, I realize your speech abilities are being mildly compromised,” Rose says, glancing at you for a moment, “but this is absurd.”

“I…” He finally says, “bathroom,” and he’s up and gone from the table.

You sigh, and put your lunch bag on the table. Might as well.

John burst out laughing, you are confused. Jade joined with a few giggles and snorts. Rose simply smiles smugly. You are infuriated.

“Do you know what the fuck is going on?” You demand, “Because seriously, it is impossible to plan anything for our project with that nook-licker when he won’t fucking talk to me!”

“I can’t speak for him specifically,” Rose tells you, “but I think you make him a little nervous.”

“Me? Make Dave Strider nervous? Bull-fucking-shit,” You reply, “I know most humans are afraid of trolls, but I’m literally as terrifying as a newborn meowbeast.”

“Dave probably prefers cats!” Jade exclaims. She and John laugh even more.

“You guys are fucking weird,” You say.

Dave doesn’t come back until lunch is almost over. And even then, he just grabs his stuff, and heads to his next class, English. Which you two happen to share, along with Rose.

Now, normally you love English class, but this year your teacher happens to be racist. Specifically towards trolls. And you being not only a troll, but a mutant one, got you seated at the very back, with the wobbly desk. Two wobbly desks, actually.

You think today your teacher must be extra tired with everyone’s bullshit.

“Dave Strider, if you do not stop disrupting class, I will be forced to move you,” He says.

“Sorry teach,” Dave replies, “just gotta get my voice out to the world, spread my wings, y’know? S’not that difficult a concept, really. You’ve gotta understand, your teaching the best class in the whole universe, need t’have lotta connections to do that, it’s like-”

“And that’s enough from you,” The teacher interrupts, “is there anyone in this class that you can sit next to, and not disrupt the class?”

“Nope,” Dave replies, popping the p. You know he’s lying, if he were moved next to you, he’d definitely stop talking. But honestly, you don’t want to sit next to him either.

“That’s a lie,” You hear Rose say, goddamnit Rose, “I bet if you put him next to Karkat, he won’t say a word the entire class.”

“Fine,” The teacher replies, glaring at you, “Dave, move your stuff to the back left corner, next to Karkat.”

Dave does as he’s told, doesn’t even make a comment. He sits down next to you, and puts his books on his desk. It wobbles. He gives it another experimental wobble.

“They both do that,” You tell him, “It’s fucking bullshit.”

To no one's surprise, he doesn’t answer you. And to Rose’s and the teacher’s delight, he didn’t talk for the entire period.

You had a feeling this seating plan was permanent. Maybe it would change his mind on the whole not talking to you thing? You doubt it.

~

Sure enough, he still doesn’t talk to you during last period, your filmography class.

You decide to get your filmography teacher involved. This is getting ridiculous.

“Ms. Paint, my partner won’t talk to me.”

“Isn’t your partner Dave? He’s a chatterbox,” Your teacher says.

“Except when he’s around me, for some obscure reason,” You reply.

“Hmm…” She looks over at Dave, who is fidgeting with his hands, “I’ll talk to him.”

You watch as she goes over to him, and asks to speak with him in the hall.

While you’re waiting, you think of who you could cast in your movie. Dave’s friends would probably be up for it, and Kanaya would definitely be open to helping you. She might even be able to get some of her classmates from her prestigious troll-only school. Depending on what the movie’s on, Sollux might be up for it too.

That’s… not a lot of people. But it’s okay! Plenty of people will want to work with Dave. Probably.

Hopefully.

…

You see Dave and Ms. Paint come back into the room. Ms. Paint is smiling at you, while Dave continues to show no emotion whatsoever.

Dave sits in the seat next to you, and Ms. Paint walks off.

“So,” You start, anticipating nothing to change, “do you have any fucking clue on what you want this film to be on? Or has years of spewing bullshit from your shout trap completely fried your think pan?”

“I don’t care,” He says. Holy fuck, Dave Strider spoke to you!

“You don’t care? About what?” He was very non-specific, “About my opinion? About this class? About anything?”

“About what the film is on,” He clarifies, “you can pick.”

“Alright, fine,” You say, “but you have no right to complain about what I pick.”

He nods in response.

“We’re making a rom com.”

He hesitates before nodding this time. Mister “cool guy” is probably embarrassed about being involved in the production of a rom com. Whatever, he had his chance.

You spend a the rest of class planning out the plot and whatnot, and when the bell rings, Ms. Paint asks if she can talk to you. Since your lusus isn’t that strict on when you get back, you say yes.

“So, as you saw, I spoke to Dave,” She says. She sounds a little… sad? You think she sounds sad.

“Yeah,” You reply, not really knowing what else to say.

“It turns out, he finds you to be a little… judgmental and abrasive.”

“... And your point is?”

“Karkat,” She says, and places a hand on your shoulder, “please try to be respectful of others’ feelings. Some people aren’t as tough as they act.”

“Fine,” You reply, mostly to get her to off your case, “I’ll try.”

“Thank you.”

~

When you get back to your hive, you text Sollux to see if he wants to be in the film. He says he’s still on a watch list after almost exploding his school’s library, but his matesprit would probably be able to join. You’re a little pissed off that Sollux is on a watchlist again.

Stupid restrictive schools for trolls with psychic abilities.

You text Kanaya next, and she asks if she can be a lead with her human girlfriend. You had no idea Kanaya got girlfriend. She tells you her name is Rose, you ask it’s Rose Lalonde, and she says yes. Looks like you were destined to get into Dave’s friend group.

You warn Kanaya of the dangers of an interspecies relationship being shown on screen, as they aren’t typically showed in rom coms. You hope Ms. Paint isn’t against them. 

Your lusus screeches at you to go to sleep, but unfortunately for him, there’s still one more person you want to talk to.

carcinoGeneticist [ CG ] began trolling turntechGodhead [ TG ]

CG: ARE YOU STILL AWAKE?  
CG: I NEED TO TALK TO YOU.  
CG:  
CG: DAVE?  
CG: FUCK YOU, I CAN SEE THAT YOU’RE ONLINE.  
CG: YOU FUCKING NOOK SNIFFER! ANSWER ME!  
CG: DAVE. PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD IN THIS SHITTY UNIVERSE, ANSWER ME.  
TG: yo  
CG: THANK FUCK.  
CG: LISTEN, I JUST WANTED TO APOLOGIZE, I GUESS?  
TG:  
CG: MS. PAINT SAID YOU GENUINELY FOUND ME INTIMIDATING OR WHATEVER.  
CG: I SAY A LOT OF DUMB SHIT. MOST OF IT IS MEANINGLESS AND YOU CAN IGNORE IT, BUT I TALK SHIT ABOUT EVERYONE, EVEN KANAYA.  
CG: THE ONLY BAD THING KANAYA HAS DONE IS THREATEN TO KILL SOMEONE ONCE, BUT THAT WAS BECAUSE HE WAS THREATENING TO KILL ME.  
CG: SO, YEAH.  
CG: DON’T BE INTIMIDATED BY ME?  
TG:  
TG: uh  
TG:  
TG: ok  
CG: OKAY.  
CG: YOU SHOULD PROBABLY GO TO SLEEP.  
TG: yea  
CG: GOOD NIGHT.

carcinoGeneticist [ CG ] ceased trolling turntechGodhead [ TG ]

The next day, you hoped that Dave would actually talk to you a little more. You spent most of first period, the one class you don’t have with Dave, hoping that he does talk to you, but not too much. There’s a reason you were happy when he wasn’t talking to you.

Second period starts, and the teacher announces that there’s a new seating plan. You look at it for your spot, and… 

… at the front. Next to Dave. 

Whatever, that’s fine.

“Hey,” You say to Dave, as you sit down next to him.

“Hi,” He replies.

You smile at him, and he turns to look at the board. Asshole.

The rest of the day, and the rest of the week, continues like that. You’re now talking to Dave Strider. Sort of, he doesn’t really say much, but still. It’s… nicer than you’d thought it be.

You continue to sit at his table for lunch, and you notice what little food he has. Usually it’s a yogurt, on Friday it was an apple.

The weekend rolls around finally, and you are exhausted. Sleep isn’t something that comes easily to you, no matter how tired you are. It makes the weekends unbearable.

But this weekend is worse. It’s been nice talking to Dave, but you know by the end of the semester, once your filmography project is done and he’s no longer forced to talk to you, it’ll just be like before. The pain of that realization is greater than you had expected it to be.

At least it wasn’t a one-week thing. The second week of Dave Strider talking to you, it feels pretty good. But there’s something… off… this week.

Dave is limping. Just barely, you didn’t notice it until English class. It lasted the whole week, and he only had a mini bag of chips for lunch. Friday, you ask Rose about it.

carcinoGeneticist [ CG ] began trolling tentacleTherapist [ TT ]

CG: ROSE.  
TT: Karkat.  
CG: I HAVE A QUESTION.  
TT: And I have many answers.  
TT: Perhaps I will be able to provide you with one, if your question is for me, that is.  
CG: CUT THE HOOFBEAST SHIT, I’M BEING SERIOUS.  
TT: So am I.  
CG: I DON’T KNOW HOW KANAYA PUTS UP WITH YOU.  
CG: BUT TO GET TO MY POINT!  
CG: I NOTICED DAVE WAS LIMPING ALL WEEK, AND HE DOESN’T EVER HAVE A PROPER LUNCH.  
CG: THE FUCK IS WITH THAT?  
TT: I’m actually not sure.  
TT: I’ve asked on multiple occasions, even secretly recording one to be able to later dissect his reaction, but I have found nothing.  
TT: You can try asking him yourself, he has taken a liking to you after all.  
CG: WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?  
CG: DAVE LIKES ME?  
CG: I THOUGHT HE WAS SCARED OF ME.  
TT: No.  
TT: You make him nervous.  
TT: There’s a difference.  
CG: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?  
CG:  
CG: ROSE?  
CG: ROSE WHAT’S THE FUCKING DIFFERENCE??  
CG: ROSE!!!!!

tentacleTherapist [ TT ] is now and idle chum!

CG: OH FUCK YOU TOO.

carcinoGeneticist [ CG ] ceased trolling tentacleTherapist [ TT ]

The rest of the semester flew by. Occasionally, Dave would come limping to school, but he dodged all questions related to it. He still never had a proper lunch, and offering food to him resulted in him simply saying he wasn’t hungry.

Dave spoke to you more often. You always had to initiate the conversation, but now he responded only a little less than how he would to anyone else. It was great progress.

Conversing with him quickly became one of the best things in your life.

carcinoGeneticist [ CG ] began trolling turntechGodhead [ TG ]

CG: WAIT.  
CG: SHOULD THE BIG KISS HAPPEN BEFORE OR AFTER THE ANTI-INTERSPECIES RELATIONSHIP PERSON FIND THEM?  
TG: he should catch them *while* theyre kissing  
TG: then hell really be like oh fuck no not on my planet get the fuck out  
TG: drama will be all up in this bitch like it was meant to be  
TG: uh  
TG: yeah  
CG: THAT’S ACTUALLY A PRETTY GOOD IDEA.  
TG: fuck yeah  
CG: IT LOOKS LIKE YOUR THINK PAN HASN’T BEEN COMPLETELY FRIED FROM ALL THE BULLSHIT YOU NORMALLY SAY.  
CG: I’M IMPRESSED.  
TG: aw hell yeah i impressed karkat vantas  
CG: FUCK.  
TG: what  
CG: MY LUSUS JUST STARTED SCREAMING LIKE HE’S FUCKING DYING.  
CG: I KNOW HE’S NOT, BUT I’D RATHER *NOT* DEAL WITH HIS HOOFBEAST SHIT.  
TG: alright  
TG: see ya  
CG: BYE.

carcinoGeneticist [ CG ] ceased trolling turntechGodhead [ TG ]

Your film was coming along nicely as well. Rose and Kanaya proved to be excellent leads. Jade and John had a tendency to goof off, but they were good when then wanted to be. Sollux’s matesprit, a rustblood named Aradia, was probably your favourite to work with. She always did exactly what was needed.

Dave was surprisingly good at filming and directing, but you found that he was absolutely amazing at editing. It was really impressive. When you two would edit during class, you’d often sit back and just let Dave do it. He never took off his shades, not even when editing, and it was perplexing, just like the rest of him.

Dave Strider was a mystery, and you wanted to know everything about him.

You studied him, watching and selecting clips, inserting sound effects, adding music, getting frustrated when something wasn’t working.

You suddenly found yourself with a huge ass crush on Dave Strider, and you had no idea what to do about it.

~

It was presentation day, finally. Presentation day was big, the whole school would go in the gymnasium for viewing instead of going to class.

You went to your assigned seat, and waited for Dave. Since you two were partners, you had to sit next to each other. You were nervous as hell, what if people didn’t like the fact that you did a rom com? What if you actually did a really bad job making it? 

And where the hell is Dave?

The other students will be called down any second now. All the students in the filmography course are supposed to already be seated. What if whatever caused his occasional limping did something worse? What if-

There he is. Running in right as the other students are being called down.

He sits down next to you, and you immediately notice something is off. He’s stiff as a board, and he’s tense as all hell. He rarely cares about what others say or think about him, so what the hell is up with him?

Whatever. You’ll try and talk to him about it after.

The other students file in, and all of them are hushed as the lights are turned off, and the projector is turned on. Your film is the 4th to be shown, and there are 13 in total. 

It’s surprising how much people liked your film. The guy on the other side of you actually seemed to be heavily invested in the plot. 

When the final film is over, Dave gets up to leave immediately. You follow him.

“Dave,” You say when you two exit the gymnasium.

He doesn’t answer you.

“Dave!”

Still nothing!

“Bulge for brains!” You grab his wrist this time. 

He makes a noise of discomfort and whips his wrist out of your grip, then runs out if the school. You try and chase him, but he’s just too fast. You can’t keep up, and almost get lost. Dave is gone.

You’ll let him have his space. He’ll be at school tomorrow anyway.

But he isn’t. Nor is he answering yours or anyone’s texts. He isn’t for the rest of the week, or the following week, when second semester starts. He’s supposed to be in all your classes. The week after that, he still isn’t there. 

You ask the teachers where Dave is. They say he has the flu, but that still doesn’t explain why he isn’t responding to anyone’s texts. Tuesday, you decide to take matters on your own hand.

carcinoGeneticist [ CG ] began trolling twinArmageddons [ TA ]

CG: HEY NOOK SUCKER.  
CG: ARE YOU STILL ON THE WATCH LIST?  
TA: no  
TA: what iillegal 2hiit do you want me two do   
CG: HACK INTO MY SCHOOL’S STUDENT DATABASE.  
CG: FIND OUT WHERE DAVE STRIDER LIVES.  
TA: wow ok you have a problem, KK  
TA: 2eriiou2ly, ii know you have a cru2h on DV, but thii2 ii2 2talker terriitory  
CG: SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU TWO PANNED SHIT HEAD.  
CG: DAVE HASN’T COME TO SCHOOL SINCE A FEW DAYS BEFORE SECOND SEMESTER STARTED.  
CG: AND HE ISN’T ANSWERING ANYONE’S TEXTS,  
CG: THE TEACHERS SAY HE HAS THE FLU, BUT HE’S COME TO SCHOOL *LIMPING*. I DOUBT HE’D STOP ANSWERING HIS FRIENDS’ TEXTS BECAUSE OF SOMETHING AS INSIGNIFICANT AS A HUMAN VIRUS.  
CG: NOW WILL YOU HELP ME?  
TA: well 2hiit  
TA: giive me a liittle biit  
TA: ii dont want two be on the watch lii2t agaiin  
CG: THANK YOU.

carcinoGeneticist [ CG ] ceased trolling twinArmageddons [ TA ]

A few hours later, Sollux texts you Dave’s address. You’ll go there tomorrow, after school. But you’ll need a reason, in case his guardian doesn’t just let you in. 

Perhaps you’re dropping off a movie? You only have rom coms, so that’ll have to work. You hope he doesn’t mind it.

~

The next day passes excruciatingly slowly, and you are so fucking on edge. Your leg is bouncing and your eyes are darting to the clock every five seconds.

Rose notices your discomfort first, and asks you about. You mentally debate telling her the truth, and decide on just saying half of the truth. You’re worried about Dave. She smiles sadly, and goes back to eating.

At the end of the day, you run home. You’ve never been a runner, but dear god would you run a marathon if it meant you knew Dave was okay. You’d run two marathons if it meant he would kiss you, but at that point you’d probably way too sweaty and gross for anyone to consider kissing you.

You throw your bag on the floor, which your lusus screams at you for, and grab the movie and your phone. Running once more, you head over to where Dave lives. It’s not that far, just in one of the apartment buildings on main street.

You dash through the main entrance of Dave’s apartment building, and enter the elevator, pressing the button to Dave’s floor. You’re nervous. There’s a chance Dave is fine and he just doesn’t want to talk to you, maybe the others were lying about him not talking to them-

No.

You know something is wrong.

Rose is taking psychology classes, and she said that Dave had taken a liking to you. There’s no way he would just communication cold turkey like that.

The elevator door opens, and you briskly walk to Dave’s door and knock on it before you can overthink your decision.

After a few seconds, the door opens. A man slightly taller than Dave, wearing a ball cap and dumb pointy anime shades, answers the door. He is mildly intimidating.

“I’m here to see Dave,” You say, faking as much confidence as you can.

“He’s got the flu,” The man replies. His voice is cold and sharp, you don’t like it.

“I’m a troll, we can’t get human viruses, or whatever a flu is,” You tell him, this time trying to match his coldness and sharpness.

“I don’t think you understand,” The man steps forward, “he’s sick, and doesn’t want to talk to anyone.”

“I brought a movie for him to watch if he wants,” You say, waving the movie case in the air a little.

“Fine, I’ll give it to him.”

“No,” You say, maybe a little too quickly, “I want to see how he is.”

The man doesn’t answer for a second, and you almost think you have him pinned. He’s definitely going to let you in now.

“What’s your name?” The man asks. Maybe he’ll ask Dave if he wants to see you?

“Karkat. Karkat Vantas,” You answer.

“Alright then Karkat, if you want to come in so much,” He grabs your shoulder and pulls you inside, closing the door behind you. 

You are now terrified, and almost regret coming. But you remember, Dave lives with this man, and if he’s doing this to a stranger, imagine what he might be doing to Dave.

“You know, I’ve heard a lot about you, Karkat,” He says. His voice is a little louder now, you aren’t sure why.

“O-oh?” Goddamnit, you stuttered.

“Yeah. Before Dave knew your name, he called you the ‘short cute angry troll from school’.”

Dave thought you were cute? Maybe even still thinks you’re cute? Is that even possible?

“He was always telling his friends about you,” He continues, “it was always ‘karkat this’ and ‘karkat that,’ quite annoying, really. They urged him to talk to you, but he was too much of a goddamn pussy.”

This… this was almost making it seem like Dave has a crush on you. Or, had, at least. Is this what Rose had been talking about when she said that you made Dave nervous?

“Dave never spoke to me directly about you, of course. I only bothered to look when I got a phone call from his english teacher, a wonderful man, about the fact that my kid was scared of the fucking weakest troll in the whole goddamn universe.”

Oh no. Oh no no no no no. You don’t like where this is going. You really don’t like where this is going.

“So I went on his computer, and looked through his chatlogs. Sure enough, half his conversations with his friends were about you, and I found out why he’s scared of you, or rather, why you make him nervous.”

You’re going to hear it. The real reason why Dave never spoke to you, from the man who may or may not be the reason Dave sometimes limped at school.

“He has goddamn school girl crush on you, and honestly, I’m disappointed. I didn’t like the idea of Dave dating a troll, much less a boy, but you’re not even objectively good looking. You’re hideous.”

Dave has a crush on you. Holy lusus of fuck.

“Are you the fucking bulge sucker who’s the reason Dave sometimes limps at school?” You ask furiously, changing the subject.

“God, he limps? That’s pathetic,” The man replies.

“You are! You fucking-! I’m going to kill you!” You scream, and lunge yourself at him, claws first.

He dodges you easily.

“It’s not my fault, he’s the one who can’t dodge fast enough,” The man says, and steps forward and punches your nose. You think he broke it.

“God fucking ass munching, nook eating, bulge fucking, fuckass! Shit!” You are in so much pain.

“And I thought trolls were supposed to apex predators or some shit. You’re worse than Dave,” The man says. He steps forward, “Looks like I’ll have to train you too.”

A tissue box hits him on the head. You both turn to look where it came from, and see Dave standing in the doorway to a bedroom. He’s bleeding from basically everywhere, his breath is heavy, and he still felt the need to put on his shades. You really want to take him out of here, and let him be safe. 

“Don’t fucking touch him,” Dave says. You’ve never heard him so angry. 

“Or what?” The man replies, “You’ll throw your sword at me, like you always do? Stop trying to be a knight, you fucking fag.”

You try and punch him, but he grabs your hand and yankes you to the side. Dave hobbles as fast as he can over to you.

“Not so fast, princess,” The man says, grabbing your shoulder and walking over to Dave.

He grabs Dave by the throat, and you flail around to try and break free of his grip. Dave does nothing.

He slams Dave against the wall, then freezes.

You’re confused at first, and you’re even more confused when he starts shaking violently. He lets go of both you and Dave, and then falls to the ground.

A soft and quiet, “What the fuck,” comes from Dave.

Taking advantage of the situation, you stagger over to Dave.

“Is this, is this normal?” You ask, “Him hurting you, I mean. Obviously the whole fainting is new.”

“Yeah, we ‘strife’,” He replies, “it’s usually just him hitting me repeatedly with a sword.”

“Fuck,” You say, “I’m going to call an ambulance, okay?”

He nods.

“Come on, you should probably sit down.”

You carefully put an arm around Dave’s waist to help support him, and he puts an arm around your shoulders. You help him over to the couch, where you both sit down. You then take out your phone, and dial.

“Hello, 9-1-1, what is your emergency?”

~

After you had told the receptionist what happened, and the address, you were told an ambulance would be there quickly. More questions were asked, some you had to forward to Dave, but he never answered them. 

Finally, there was a knock on the door. Only when you opened it to prove the paramedics were here did the receptionist let you go. Dave was put on a stretcher, as was the older man. Despite the fact that you were a troll, and this was a human ambulance, they let you in the ambulance with Dave.

When you got to the hospital, you and Dave were taken to different rooms. Dave protested as much as he could, but it was futile. You knew he’d probably need surgery or something, and definitely stitches, maybe even a feeding tube for the little amount of food he’s gotten. Oh god, when was the last time he ate?

You were taken to a different room, where a nurse practitioner put your nose back into place, and gave you a tissue for the bleeding. She told you that you could wait in the waiting room as long as you wanted, and she’d make sure any updates on Dave would get to you.

About half an hour after you sat down, a nurse came with news of Dave. Apparently, his left knee was sprained, both his forearms were broken in four places total, his left upper arm bone was fractured, his upper right arm was broken, he had 7 broken ribs, and a large number of cuts and bruises all over his body. He’d lost a lot of blood, but his blood type was on record. AB+, they could literally give him any type of blood. He was also malnourished, and required a feeding tube.

The nurse assured you that Dave would live.

“Would you like to know about the older man, Dirk Strider?” He asks after.

“Yeah, do you know why he fainted?” You reply.

“Yes, actually. We immediately ran him through a brain scan, and it turns out there’s a tumour in the temporal lobe of the cerebrum in his brain. We believe it’s cancerous, but we’re going to have to test it.” The nurse says.

“Okay,” You reply, “When can I see Dave?”

“Once all he’s all wrapped up, and all that’s left is for us to wait for him to heal.”

The nurse leaves after that, and you decide to text John, Jade, and Rose, to tell them what happened.

Twenty minutes later, the four of you are all waiting together.

“I can’t believe we didn’t notice it sooner,” Rose says.

“I mean, he did his best to hide it,” John replies.

“Rose is right,” Jade adds, “we should have noticed something was wrong!”

“Would you all shut up!” You interrupt, “Weeping about how you didn’t do enough isn’t going to change the fact that Dave is in the hospital. As matter of fact, it actually seems counterproductive! We should be focusing on helping Dave recover.”

You all sit in silence for the next hour. Then one hour turns to two, two to three, three to four, and finally, the nurse comes back.

“If you want to see Dave, follow me,” He says softly. 

The four of you get up, and follow him through the hospital. Eventually, he opens a patient door, to reveal Dave. He’s lying in the bed, with both arms suspended in the air in casts.

You sit down in the seat closest to his head, and for the first time, you see his eyes. His bright, beautiful, red eyes. He smiles slightly at you, but you can see it in his eyes the true level of his happiness.

Jade sits down next to you, John sits across from you, and Rose sits next to John.

“Goddamn it’s bright,” Is the first thing Dave says. The rest of you can’t help but laugh. “No, I’m serious, there’s some shit with my eyes, they’re sensitive to light. I get like, headaches ‘n’ shit.”

“Sure, sure, we’ll say that,” You tease.

“I’m serious dude. It’s called ‘albinism’, and it’s the reason I’m pale as all fuck,” He argues.

~

You don’t get to stay for much longer. Dave isn’t at risk of dying, so you need to follow the standard visiting hours. 

You say your goodbyes, and head off. John offers to drive you home, as he’s already driving Rose and Jade too.

At school, whenever the teachers ask where Dave is, you can finally tell them. You don’t say why he’s in the hospital, but you can say that he’ll probably be back sometime next week.

You visit Dave everyday after school. You learn that Dirk is actually his father, and that the cancer hadn’t originated in his brain. It’s in too many places now, they don’t think he’s going to live.

Dave is says that he’s almost relieved at that, and the doctors say that Dave will be compensated for all the damage that his father had done to him. That’s when you see Dave Strider cry for the first time. You hold him while he openly sobs, and when you ask if he’s okay, he says that he never imagined he’d ever be free of his father.

Occasionally, John, Jade, Rose, sometimes Kanaya, and even once Sollux and Aradia, come to visit Dave as well. You don’t bring up the fact that his father said Dave has a crush on you. That conversation shouldn’t happen in a hospital.

On Saturday, he tells you that the doctors say he’ll be out Sunday. Since his only home is where he was hurt, he asks if he can live with you.

“Dave, I live with a giant fucking crustacean. Are you prepared for life with a giant fucking crustacean?” You ask him.

“Dude, bro, your giant fucking crustacean probably won’t give a shit about the fact that he doesn’t know me,” He explains, “someone’s parents, though? They’d probably have some questions, and I don’t wanna deal with answering awkward questions.”

“Fine, you can live with me and my giant fucking crustacean.”

~

Sunday comes, and you ask John if he’ll drive you and Dave back to your home. He’s ecstatic to learn that Dave is all better. You remind him that Dave is still healing, he just doesn’t need to be in the hospital.

At 3 pm Sunday, Dave is officially discharged from the hospital. A nurse asks if you’re prepared to help care for a human with both arms broken. You assure her that you’ll be fine. She nods, and wishes you luck. 

You and John walk Dave out of the hospital, and over to John’s car. In John’s car is where you encounter the first problem of Dave having both of his arms broken. He can’t put on his seatbelt.

You put on the seatbelt for him, and go to the other side of the car to sit next to him. John sits in the driver's seat, and you’re off.

John drops you off at your home, and you also have to get the seatbelt off of Dave. John gives Dave a hug, before heading home.

You and Dave enter your home, and immediately your lusus is hugging Dave. You are both confused, until you hear a low rumble coming from your lusus, and realize what’s going on. Now, only Dave is confused. 

“Dude, what the fuck is he doing?” Dave asks.

“He’s purring,” You reply.

“Why?”

“Because, he senses that you have broken bones, so he’s emitting a low-frequency vibration to help them heal,” You explain, “it actually does help.”

“Huh,” He says, “Hey, do you have any of my stuff? Or is it all still at my apartment?”

“Yesterday, when I left early, I went to your apartment with the moving crew,” You explain, “I think we got everything of yours? If not, we can go back. I put it all in the spare room.”

“We should probably go check,” He says.

“Yeah, probably.”

You spend the rest of the afternoon unpacking and setting up Dave’s stuff. All you were missing were his swords, but you agreed that swords were unnecessary.

You do most of the work, as Dave clearly can’t do much. You’re both laughing about something, when Dave suddenly frowns, looks and his arms, moves the a bit, then says, “Shit.”

“What?”

“I- fuck,”

“What?” You’re kind of annoyed that he’s not telling you what’s wrong.

“I need to take piss,” He says.

Oh.

“And you can’t move your arms enough to take off your pants,” You finish for him, then realize another thing, “Fuck! You can’t get dressed!”

“Goddamnit,” He replies, clearly not remembering that either.

You are going to have to help your crush get undressed and go to the bathroom. You are going to die.

“Let’s get this over with,” You say.

After the awkwardness that was helping Dave go to the bathroom, you decide to distract yourselves with a movie. Dave suggests you bring down his laptop to watch one of his movies, knowing you only have rom coms.

The moment you two are on the couch, your lusus is purring next to Dave. This causes you and Dave to be squished up against each other. 

The movie is a dumb major-human cast one, and you have trouble focusing on it. What you don’t have trouble focusing on is the fact that your crush is living with you, you are currently pressed up against him, and he might have a crush on you. 

You also saw his dick. It was awkward, he explained how he normally went to to the bathroom, and explained why that was how he normally went to the bathroom. Long story short, you’ve also held his dick. Albeit with some toilet paper in between, but still.

That last thing is something you’re going to need to talk about with him. You decide after the movie you’ll bring it up. Definitely.

Most certainly.

You will not be a cluckbeast.

You try to focus on the movie, but it’s pointless. You’d much rather forget the movie and kiss Dave. 

You barely register when the movie ends, only having your attention caught when the screen fades to black.

You have to ask now, you have to ask now if Dave’s father was saying the truth, you have to-

“So, dinner seems like a thing you’d normally be eating now,” Dave says, interrupting your thoughts.

“Uhm,” You give up, you are a cluckbeast. It’s you. “Yeah, are you cool with troll food? It’s all I have.”

“I’ve never had any,” He admits, “it’s like, bugs ‘n’ shit, right?”

“Yeah, it’s mostly bugs,” You reply, “are you good with... fucking… grasshoppers and asparagus?”

“Yeah, sure.”

You get up and go to the kitchen to cook. You put more seasoning than you normally would on the grasshoppers. Technically speaking, grasshoppers are a human food. But you like them. You like them a lot.

Dave likes the grasshoppers too, and you’re glad. You don’t know what you’d do if he didn’t. You did, however, almost have to help him eat.

You help Dave change into his pyjamas, and do your best not to look at his dick. It’s a worthless effort. It’s either you look at his dick or his ass, and you’ve already touched his dick.

You have trouble sleeping that night. You can only imagine how much trouble Dave is having.

The next morning, you put grubloaf out for breakfast. Dave admits it’s not as good as your grasshoppers. You’re proud of that.

At school, everyone asks Dave what happened. He says he was pushed down some stairs. Everyone is skeptical of his answer.

You and Dave go to the office first thing to get a bathroom key to the office bathrooms. The secretary questions why that would necessary, and you tell her that it’s pretty much impossible to go to the bathroom with two broken arms. She gives you a key.

You help Dave get caught up in all his classes, and it really pays off that you have the same ones.

In the middle of fourth period, Dave has to go to the bathroom. You both get up and tell the teacher so, but she questions why you’re both going. Dave says that “It’s kind of hard to wipe your ass with two broken arms.” She lets you go.

~

The week passes slowly. You get more accustomed to taking care of Dave. Sometimes you need to put ice on his torso. After school every day, John drives Dave to the hospital for a check up, where he also gets his bandages changed.

Your lusus is constantly trying to purr on Dave. Luckily, it’s paying off, the doctors say his bones are healing slightly faster than they anticipated.

You knew you’d have to talk to Dave about the whole thing with his father saying Dave has a crush on you, but you can’t. You don’t want to make your friendship awkward.

The weekend isn’t as awkward as you thought it would be. Saturday, you spend most of the day at Jade’s house. You and Dave team up against her in mario kart, you drive while Dave tells you what to do. She gets first every time, you rarely pass fifth.

Sunday, you marathon Con Air at John’s house. You never want to watch Con Air again.

Monday and Tuesday pass just like the week before. Wednesday morning, you get a call from the hospital. Dave’s father wants to see Dave.

“Dave?” You call, knowing his opinion is the one that matters.

“Yeah,” He replies, it’s slightly muffled from your lusus purring next to him.

“The hospital called, they say you’re father wants to see you.”

He freezes, starts shaking his head, then runs upstairs. Your lusus whines for him to come back.

“Dave says he doesn’t want to see his father. He really doesn’t want to,” You tell the receptionist, hang up and put your phone in your pocket, then run to find Dave.

He’s in his room, huddled as close to a ball as he can. He’s breathing heavily, probably trying to not cry.

“Dave?” You say as softly as possible.

He whimpers in response.

“Do… do you want to be alone?” You need to be sure.

“No!” He shouts.

“Okay,” You reply, and slowly walk over to him, “I’m going to sit next to you, okay?”

As slowly as possible, you slide down the wall next to him, not touching him, just in case. He leans against you. He’s shaking. Gently, you put an arm over his shoulders. 

You stay like that for a while. It dawns on you that at this rate, you’ll be late for school. Based on Dave’s emotional state though, he shouldn’t go to school.

You call the school, and let them know that neither you nor Dave will be coming to school, as Dave is in need of a mental health day.

“I, um,” Dave starts a while later, voice still hoarse from crying, “I heard everything he told you.”

“Dave, it’s fine,” You tell him, “that nook eating fuckass is a lying shithead, and I don’t care what he said.”

“There was one thing… he said…”

You know exactly what he’s talking about. The whole crush thing.

“And yeah, it was the complete truth,” he explains, “I couldn’t talk to ‘cause you’re this cute troll guy and I got butterflies in my stomach every time we got too close. Hell, looking at you set it off. Still does.”

Oh. Oh wow. Dave really does have a crush on you. You should probably say something, but you don’t know what to say. 

“I’m sorry if this makes things too weird now, I can go live with John if you don’t want me here anymore.”

“No, it doesn’t make things weird,” You say, “I actually got a crush on you during the last few weeks of working on our project, so this whole situation was awkward beforehand.”

“Oh,” is all Dave replies with. 

“Yep.” This is both amazing and awkward.

“So… if I asked you to be my boyfriend…” Dave trails off.

“I’d say yes,” you answer.

“Does that make us boyfriends now?” he asks, and you don’t blame him for needing reassurance.

“Fuck yeah, it does,” you reply, and move your free hand to his shades. You want to see how he is.

He nods, and you take them off. You haven’t focused on Dave’s eyes whenever you’re helping him change, since you know he’s sensitive about others seeing his eyes. Something about his father not wanting him to show emotion.

Right now, you wish you’d payed attention. His eyes are red and puffy from crying, and he has massive purple eye bags.

“Dave, why haven’t you been sleeping?” you ask. 

He shrugs. You decide not to push that particular subject, and just get him to sleep.

“Come on, you need to sleep,” you say, and help Dave stand up.

You lead him to his bed, and help him lie down. Technically, he doesn’t need your help for that, but it makes things easier on his ribcage.

“Fuck,” you say, “I didn’t ask if you wanted to change back into your pyjamas.”

“It’s fine, I would’ve said no anyway,” Dave replies, “Could you just… stay here? With me, right now.”

“Like, in the bed?” God this day is a rollercoaster.

“Yes!” Dave replies, “I mean, uhm, if you want to.”

“Of course I do,” You say as you lie down next to him.

You’re not really that tired, but you want Dave to be able to sleep, so you curl up into his side. You’re careful not to put too much pressure on Dave’s body, as you aren’t sure what could hurt him.

~

After that Wednesday, things were better. Between you and Dave, everything just got less awkward. To any outsider, it looked like you were just really close friends, as you didn’t kiss, or go out on dates. You didn’t want to push Dave into doing anything, and with how his father had acted towards you, you can only imagine what internal struggles Dave is going through.

John still takes Dave to the hospital everyday, and you consider getting a car. You know John says he doesn’t mind, but you don’t like relying on others for things.

Six weeks after Dave was discharged from the hospital, yet a few days after your lusus stops purring around him, he gets his casts taken off. You’re with him for that hospital visit, and the first thing he does when he sees you, is give you a big hug. 

You also get an update on Dave’s father while you’re there. He’s not doing well. They ask Dave if Dirk has a will, as Dirk’s mental state is too altered for him to form coherent thoughts. Dave says no. 

You also find out that he has been chained to the bed for constant harassment of almost anyone who gets too close to him. He is no longer allowed visitors.

After John drives you home, you invite him to stay for dinner, a mini party for Dave getting his casts off. John accepts, and gives a quick call to his dad, saying he’s at a friends’ for dinner.

Your lusus is skeptical of John, and stays in your backyard for the entire night.

John is grossed out by the grubs you cook. John tried troll food once, and hated it. Dave throws a grub on his face.

John eats the grubs reluctantly.

After dinner, Dave tells you he has to go to the bathroom. You tell him to just go. He face palms, and tells you he forgot he doesn’t need help anymore. You both laugh at that. John, who didn’t hear Dave, is confused by all this laughter.

The three of you watch one of Dave’s movies, and John complains how it isn’t as good as Con Air. Dave throws a pillow at him, and you say that Con Air sucks.

After John leaves, and your lusus comes back inside, you and Dave curl up together on your couch and watch movies.

The following days, Dave still asks you for help with things he doesn’t need help with anymore. You both get a laugh out of it, but you can see Dave’s face strain every time. You remind him that you like him, you care about him, and you’re happy he’s living with you.

He really likes hugs. Specifically, he likes hugging you. You two still haven’t kissed, or gone out on a date, and part of your mind is trying to convince you that Dave doesn’t actually want to date you. Even though sometimes you two do sleep in the same bed, technically friends could be doing what you two do, especially considering the fact that you haven’t told anyone you’re dating.

“Hey, Dave?” You say one day.

You are already regretting this.

“Yeah?” He replies, “What’s up?”

“Do you think that, uhm,” you fidget with your hands, “do you think that we could like, go out on a date at some point?”

“Oh fuck, was that a thing we were supposed to be doing?” Dave says, panic clear in his voice as he walks over to you, “Shit, I’m sorry, Karkat, fuck.”

He stops walking just in front of you.

“As much as I would have appreciated a date before now, we aren’t fucking time travellers,” you reassure him, “unless you secretly have time powers? In which case, fuck you for not making your past self talk to me sooner!”

That gets him to smile. You like his smile, and while you’d prefer if he didn’t have his shades on, it’s fine like this.

“So, a date, huh?” He says with a smile.

“Yeah, a date,” you agree.

“Where to?”

“I’m pretty sure there was a troll-human place down on Derse, i think it’s called ‘Skies of Skaia’?” You ask.

“Oh yeah, I’ve seen that place,” Dave says, “I’ve actually wanted to go there for a while.”

“How about we go Saturday?”

“Fuck yeah, Saturday date night,” Dave says, and hugs you.

You really like Dave’s hugs.

~

The date goes very well, and while you don’t kiss, Dave does hold your hand, and keeps flirting with you. It’s very embarrassing. However, you call him ‘babe’ once and his whole face goes red. You temporarily rendered Dave Strider speechless.

After dinner, you agree that you should definitely go on more dates.

Dave starts flirting with you at home, and you attempt to do the same. No matter how terrible your attempts are though, he always gets extremely flustered. It’s hilarious.

Your friends try to guess yours and Dave’s relationship, and after three days of them guessing, you tell them. They all congratulate you on your new relationship status.

A few weeks after that incident, you get a call from your first choice college. You’ve been accepted. When you tell Dave, he tells you that he’s also been accepted into the same college. It’s a wonderful day.

You finally buy a car. It’s not the prettiest, it’s an old red truck, but it works very nicely. Dave completely unironically loves it.

You finally go to a drive-in theatre for a date, and you must admit that it is just as good as you imagined it would be.

You take that red truck everywhere, up a hill to stargaze, down to the lakeshore, to Dave’s monthly hospital checkup. It’s actually while you’re in that red truck that Dave gets a call from the hospital.

“Can you just pull over for a second?” Dave asks after he hangs up.

“Okay,” you reply, and pull into a nearby parking lot. 

Dave jumps out of the passenger seat, and runs over to your side. By the time he gets there, you’re just out of your seat. Dave flips up his shades, grabs your face, and kisses you.

It takes a second for you to realize he’s kissing you, but when you do, you kiss back as best you can. When you two pull away, you’re both panting.

“Not that I’m complaining, but what caused this?” You ask, smiling.

“He’s dead,” Dave replies. You know who he’s talking about. “He’s dead, and I- I’m- I’m free!”

He’s smiling. He’s smiling so much and you love that he’s smiling. You love him.

He kisses you again. This one is shorter, but you also have your hands around his waist, so you’re not complaining.

“And you know what, I can finally say something,” He says, a mischievous smile on his face now.

“Oh fuck no, don’t make a dick joke, or a bulge joke, or-”

“I love you.”

Those words catch you off guard. Dave *loves* you. Holy shit. You can’t just leave that comment unanswered, he’ll freak out.

“I love you too,” you say back to him.

And he’s kissing you again. You can’t even remember anymore where you were supposed to be going with the truck. Kissing Dave is definitely better than wherever you were going, so it doesn’t really matter anyway.

~

Since Dave is Dirk’s only living relative, everything goes to him. You sell basically everything, and a few things you find disturb you greatly.

On Dirk’s computer was a bunch of saved videos of Dave. You don’t know where the cameras are, but they seem to be like security cameras.

Some of the videos are of him panicking, or accidentally cutting himself. Others are of him changing, or showering.

You tell Dave your findings, and he cries. He knew it was happening but he didn’t know Dirk saved the videos.

You erase everything on the computer, and give it to Sollux for spare parts. You know that if Sollux finds anything of the videos, he’ll delete them and pretend he never saw them. Sollux is a good friend.

You and Dave become filthy rich. Apparently his father was rich, and now Dave owns the money, and the business that made his father rich. It’s a porn site. You get Sollux to delete it.

Dave gets paranoid every so often that his father isn’t actually dead. You do your best to reassure him, but there’s only so much you can do. At least when Dave is in a good mood, he kisses you, and you can kiss him.

When you go into college, you request that you be roommates. You do keep your house, because you’re rich and you want to, but have your lusus sent to a pasture. It’s where Sollux sent his after he became too much to care for.

College is hard, but you have Dave, and Dave has you. It’s not always easy to deal with everything, but at least you can fall asleep in each other’s embrace at the end of the day.

When you graduate college, you do something you’ve always wanted to do with some theoretical person, and more recently Dave. You ask him to marry you.

He says yes, just like you knew he would, and the only day you’re happier is on your wedding day.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed!!
> 
> Leave a comment and a kudo, they make my day!


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